The woes at the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital seem to deepen after a body which had been lying at the facility's mortuary for the past six months following a family dispute was stolen.
Unknown people are said to have broken into the mortuary on Tuesday, 20 February and escaped with the body.
According to the hospital matron Patricia Musale, she was called by the Umash Funeral Home on Thursday after receiving a body which had no original burial permit, leaving the management with suspicion.
She said that after further inquiry, she was later informed that their facility’s mortuary had been broken into and the only body which was lying there was missing.
Ms Musale said that she was also informed that the family of the deceased were spotted at the scene during the time of the incident.
"It was the only body we had at the facility when the county government forcefully took over the hospital. I was surprised when I was informed that the mortuary had been broken into. I cannot say who broke and stole it. The body had been detained following a family dispute," she said
Nakuru West Sub County Police Commander Francis Wahome confirmed the incident but did not give more information claiming that he had not been briefed by his juniors who visited the crime scene.
According to Ms Musale, the body had been lying at the hospital’s mortuary since September 2023, after a family feud over the rightful owner to bury the body.
She said that the family moved to court on February 15 and the court gave the deceased's children the right to bury.
Ms Musale said that the middle-aged woman passed away while undergoing treatment at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit and was moved to the facility mortuary for preservation awaiting burial.
“Since she passed away, the body has been lying at the mortuary, the daughter had agreed that she would pay part of the mortuary bill and even entered into an agreement with the hospital lawyer.
The deceased had accumulated a bill of Sh921,000 and her daughter promised to pay half of the bill. We even agreed to release the body after the court ruling, but nothing has been paid,” said Ms Musale.
The 25-acre piece of land hosting the War Memorial Hospital in Nakuru has been at the centre of a legal battle pitting the county government of Nakuru and the owners of the private hospital for four months now, leaving operations at the hospital paralysed.
On October 27, 2023, the Nakuru County Government forcibly took over the management of the hospital saying ownership documents were forged to acquire a 99-year lease title.
The two parties have since been involved in unending court battles, with the county ignoring court orders.
After the county government took over the facility, Ms Musale said that the deceased’s daughter called, informing her they had been threatened to remove the body or else the government would switch off the mortuary machines.
The hospital matron added; “After breaking into the morgue, the thieves tried to move the body to Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary but the management declined, so they later moved it to Umash funeral home.”
